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2010 Gov Race
The Cuomo Files, ’86 Debate Edition
Oct 17th - 8:43 am
The Buffalo News’ Susan Schulman has a great piece today on the evolution of Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Andrew Cuomo from the so-called “Prince of Darkness” and top enforcer for his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, to the calculating and uber-disciplined candidate of today.
The following recollection from Dave Hepp, a veteran Capitol watcher and former producer/reporter of the long-lost TV shot “Inside Albany,” struck me as particularly apropos, in light of the seven-way slugfest scheduled to take place at Hofstra tomorrow:
Hepp felt Andrew Cuomo’s sting when Mario Cuomo ran for re-election in 1986. “Inside Albany” was selected to host a candidate debate.
Rather than a one-on-one between the Democrat and Republican candidates, which “Inside Albany” wanted, the Cuomo campaign wanted every minor party candidate invited, even those viewed as marginal, Hepp recalled.
“One night, I was trying to watch the Giants Monday Night Football game, and the phone wouldn’t stop ringing. It was Andrew as the bad cop and Sandy Frucher (another Mario Cuomo aide) as the good cop. They would go at me, trying to wear me down to produce the debate the way they wanted the debate to be produced. They put a lot of pressure on me. He (Andrew) said something like, ‘David, you gotta understand, this is business. This isn’t personal.’ ”
“It was something right out of ‘The Godfather’,” Hepp said.
“Inside Albany” eventually bowed out, deciding not to host the debate.
After that campaign, Hepp said, he didn’t see Andrew Cuomo for a while. The governor’s son headed off to Washington, D. C.
Air Cuomo: No Abortion Rights In ‘Carl’s New York’
Oct 16th - 2:18 pm
Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Andrew Cuomo has released a hard-hitting new attack ad that slams his GOP/Conservative opponent, Carl Paladino, on the issue of choice, saying the Buffalo businessman would make women who are victims of rape or incest “victims a second time” by denying them access to abortion services.
Paladino has been under attack by abortion-rights advocates since expressing his extremely conservative opinion on choice on national TV shortly after his Sept. 14 GOP primary win. He also makes clear on his campaign Website that he opposes using public funds to “promote or perform” abortions.
Cuomo has been running ads that seek to contrast his own experience with Paladino’s and seek to turn the “Albany insider” attack back on his opponent by highlighting his campaign contributions and the fact that he has benefitted from Empire Zone tax breaks without creating many jobs.
This “Carl’s New York” approach is a new line of attack and one I expect we’ll see more of in the coming weeks…perhaps with spots that note the candidate’s desire to dramatically cut Medicaid, which Cuomo says would require the closure of hundreds of hospitals.
And Now, A Word From Howie Hawkins…
Oct 15th - 1:35 pm
…unfortunately, it’s a word I can neither write here nor give air time to on CapTon.
Fortunately, Green Party gubernatorial hopeful Howie Hawkins is savvy enough to know that, and has helpfully added some artful “bleeps” to this Web video, which highlights the fact that the supposed end of the recession has not yet translated into actual employment for many out-of-work New Yorkers.
If this is any indication of what’s to come Monday at that seven-way debate, it’s going to be a fun 90 minutes.
Paladino Hires
Oct 15th - 1:15 pm
Amid widespread consensus that his campaign is rudderless (at best) and in complete chaos (at worst), Carl Paladino has added bulked up his staff in hopes of righting the ship heading into the final weeks of the governor’s race, a source familiar with the new additions confirmed.
On the political side, the Buffalo businessman has added two members of Gotham Management Group:
- Lynn Krogh, a former Pataki administration aide who worked until the bitter end with Paladino’s vanquished GOP primary foe, Rick Lazio, and was widely praised for her vote counting operation that blocked Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy from getting on the ballot at the convention.
- Andrew Abdel-Malik, who worked on former US Senate hopeful David Malpass’ unsuccessful campaign this past fall. Other credits include former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s failed 2008 presidential bid, as well as a stint at the RNC, the Bush White House and the House Republican Policy Committee.
- Vince Casale, who runs a Cooperstown-based consulting firm, The Casale Group, with his father, former Assemblyman Anthony Casale, who was helping Onondaga County Comptroller Bob Antonacci with his never-realized bid for statewide office earlier this year.
On the communications side, the following people have signed on:
- Kirk Bell. Worked with Paladino campaign manager Michael Caputo and his mentor, Roger Stone, on Jack Kemp’s 1988 presidential bid.
- Michael Johns, a former George H.W. Bush administration speechwriter and former top aide to ex-New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean. He’s also a leader in the national Tea Party movement.
Apparently, both Bell and Johns are members of the Jefferson Ale Club, which has been described to be as a “secret society” of conservatives formed by a number of low-ranking Reagan appointees in the 1980s.
Report: Paladino Campaign Manager Offered To Quit (Updated)
Oct 15th - 12:51 pm
The Buffalo News’ Tom Precious is reporting that Carl Paladino’s campaign manager, Michael Caputo, offered to quit in the wake of the anti-gay statements the GOP/Conservative gubernatorial candidate made last weekend to ultra-Orthodox rabbis.
According to Precious, Paladino insisted Caputo remain with him through the end of the campaign.
Caputo declined to comment to the News. I e-mailed him a link to the story and have not yet heard back.
UPDATE: I just received the following one-word response, which said only: “Correct.” UPDATE2: YNN Buffalo’s Stephen Marth spoke to Caputo, who said: “I can confirm that I offered to resign, but Carl told me not to. It’s something I’m not going to go on the air about.”
Earlier this week, Caputo took responsibility for allowing Rabbi Yehuda Levin to wrote at least one version of the speeches the Buffalo businessman gave in Brooklyn. (Levin insists he didn’t write the version that included the “brainwashed” line, which Paladino delivered, and the “dysfunctional” line, which he didn’t).
“It’s still on me. I’m the campaign manager. I have to take responsibility,” Caputo told reporters Tuesday night at a fundraiser outside Albany.
“It’s the duty of the campaign manager to fall on his sword. I wouldn’t be a very professional person if I didn’t admit to my mistake.”
Cuomo To Camera
Oct 15th - 11:33 am
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo’s lastest TV ad features, for the first time, an extended appearance by the candidate himself, slamming Albany dysfunction and special interests and promising to restore New York to a state “we can be proud of.”
Here’s the script of the ad, which is running statewide and was produced by Murphy Putnam:
“I can’t believe what’s happened to New York’s government. The dysfunction. The corruption. The embarrassment. It is hurting all of us. We need to clean up Albany, now.”
“It will be a tough fight. But I am ready to take it on, like I’ve done as attorney general, where I’ve fought for you against bankers, lobbyists and corruption politicians in both parties. I know we can turn this state around. We’ll have to be strong, but we also have to be smart and work together. That’s a New York we can be proud of.”
Duffy Meeting With Manhattan Dems
Oct 15th - 9:23 am
LG candidate Bob Duffy will be meeting separately this afternoon Manhattan Democratic elected officials and party leaders to discuss the final weeks of the campaign, a source with knowledge of the get-togethers confirmed.
The Rochester mayor is scheduled to sit down with the electeds at noon, and the party leaders at 12:30 p.m.
Duffy’s appearances have been largely restricted to upstate since his selection by gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Cuomo just before the Democratic convention in Rye this past summer. He’s not terribly well known to downstaters, some of whom were a little put out by the AG’s decision not to tap someone of color as his No. 2, leaving the party’s statewide ticket devoid of any minority candidates.
The LG post has taken on a new significance since former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution scandal thrust his LG, David Paterson, into a post he has since admitted he neither wanted (he was hoping to take over Hillary Clinton’s US Senate seat had she been elected to the White House) nor was prepared to take on.
Cuomo selected Duffy both for his ties to upstate and executive experience, something the AG himself arguably lacks, although he has run both a federal agency (HUD) and a sizable state office. The mayor’s history of fiscal discipline and taking on public employee unions also fit nicely into Cuomo’s campaign platform.
I’d expect to see more of these get-to-know-you sessions between Duffy and downstaters as his election seems increasingly likely.
Phillips All In For Paladino
Oct 14th - 5:23 pm
Republican congressional candidate George Phillips, whose effort to oust veteran Democratic incumbent Rep. Maurice Hinchey has garnered national attention of late, told me without hesitation during a CapTon interview last night that he will definitely be voting for Carl Paladino on Nov. 2.
“I agree with his message on reforming Albany – one term for governor, trying to reign in the spending, taking on the career politicians in Albany,” Phillips said.
“I think he’s the man to do it versus Andrew Cuomo, whose had a record of just being involved in big government programs. HUD, in the years that laid the groundwork for the financial disaster…that put us in the bind that we’re in today. So, I do support Carl Paladino for governor.”
When I asked about Paladino’s controversial statements, his e-mails and allegations from Democrats that he is a racist, sexist, homophobe who should be denounced by all Republican candidates, Phillips replied:
“I’ve seen Carl Paladino around. I don’t believe he’s racist. I don’t think there’s anything that would suggest that he is – legitimate, legitimate evidence that would suggest that. I think he wants to shake up Albany.”
“This election is more than about Paladino or Phillips or the other candidates. It’s that people are sick of the mess in Albany, the mess in Washington. They’ve had enough. I think that’s why so many people went for Paladino in the primary. He still has a lot of support.”
It’s getting increasingly rare for Republican candidates to embrace Paladino so whole-heartedly. Several GOP incumbents are even now publicly saying they’re unsure if they’ll be voting for him in the wake of the anti-gay comments mess last weekend in Brooklyn.
Levin Unplugged
Oct 14th - 7:23 am
Rabbi Yehuda Levin appeared on “The Last Word” With Lawrence O’Donnell last night to defend himself in the wake of the Carl Paladino/anti-gay statement mess, and he continued to sound awfully supportive of the Buffalo businessman, despite the fact that he had just rescinded his endorsement several hours earlier.
Levin said he wrote one version of Paladino’s speech, but not the one that included the “brainwashing” line that caused the latest uproar. He said a “mysterious stranger” wrote that, adding that he has an “idea” about that person’s identity, but is keeping it a secret.
Levin rejected the suggestion that his comments or the words he wrote for the candidate incite violence, adding: “We are the victims; I haven’t seen an Orthodox Jew beating up on a homosexual, calling them the kinds of kinds that I’ve been receiving: F-you, pig, die – just because I’m standing up for my religion.”
When O’Donnell asked Levin about Paladino’s pornographic e-mails and how he could possibly support a person whose personal actions aren’t in keeping with his public pronouncements, the rabbi replied:
“I’d rather have a person – try to get this – I’d rather have a person who does all kinds of bad things in his private life but publicly, in terms of the legislation he will sponsor, will be a hypocrite, but will let my children grow up. And that’s the answer. It’s a million times more important. And by the way, a guy like that to carry the baby to term is one in a million. Everyone else – rich, wealthy – get rid of the evidence.”
New Jersey Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner, an officer on the New York Board of Rabbis, who joined Levin on the show, said the controversial ultra-Orthodox rabbi “doesn’t represent the flavor of Judaism for me and for most of the Jewish people in the world.”
Hey, Honey! We Don’t Do PC Here
Oct 13th - 5:07 pm
GOP/Conservative gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino was trying hard to stay on message at a campaign stop in Boonville today, and more or less managed to do so at first, refusing to respond to questions about Rabbir Yehuda Levin’s disendorsement, for example, and insisting the anti-gay comment mess is now behind him.
Things were all going along just fine until he addressed a female reporter as “honey,” and then launched into a rejection of political correctness, saying it has been “used by people to control other people, and that’s not right.”
“I think people expect, the people of the state of New York expect, people to get out there and be genuine and say exactly what’s on their minds so we get to know them,” Paladino continued.
“Who’s the real person there, you know? I mean Andrew wants to stand around and say that he’s politically correct. I don’t need that. I don’t need it at all. That’s not where I come from.”
The same reporter then noted that some people think Paladino is homophobic and asked: “Would you say that’s the kind of person you are?”
” I tell you I’m off of that topic,” the Buffalo businessman reponded. “Do I look like that to you?”
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